Int'l Bar Association, OECD, and UN To Use Corporate Lab Special Report

Int'l Bar Association, OECD, and UN To Use Corporate Lab Special Report

Office of Communications

February 12, 2012

The International Bar Association, OECD, and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime are using the Corporate Lab's recent Special Report as part of their anti-corruption educational tools. Last week, the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Global Anti-Corruption Task Force published the Special Report, drafted by the University of Chicago Law School Corporate Lab and co-sponsored by Microsoft Corporation, entitled: "Complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: A Practical Primer." The Report is available free of charge at the Task Force’s website, here, and can be accessed directly, here.

This Special Report highlights the importance of FCPA compliance programs, presents a comprehensive framework for understanding and designing such programs, and provides detailed metrics that aim to improve the efficacy of compliance programs. It is a significant contribution to the literature of corporate compliance. The International Bar Association, OECD, and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime have included the Report in their educational tools designed to:

(i) investigate the role of lawyers in international transactions affected by corruption, (ii) raise awareness among legal professionals about the devastating effects that may result from this crime, and (iii) promote the highest standards to prevent corruption in this profession.

About the University of Chicago Corporate Lab

The Corporate Lab, co-founded in 2009 by Dean David Zarfes, Michael L. Bloom, and Sean Z. Kramer, is the first-of-its kind and only law-school-affiliated transactional legal clinic in the country to work with major, for-profit companies. The Corporate Lab also houses a litigation clinic, where students collaborate with litigators to solve complex issues associated with live cases and controversies. Through the Corporate Lab, students develop the experience, judgment, and skills to be effective well-rounded legal practitioners upon graduation. The Corporate Lab has partnered with some of the country’s leading companies and other organizations, including: Accenture, Allstate, Baxter International, IBM, Integrys Energy Group, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Neiman Marcus, New Venture Challenge at Chicago Booth, Northern Trust, Schreiber Foods, Sony Electronics, United Airlines, and Verizon. The Corporate Lab has also worked closely with the Global Anti-Corruption Task Force.